Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relation between deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) by radionuclide imaging.
Methods: One hundred forty patients with PTE from September 1997 to March 2001 at this institution was confirmed by clinical manifestation, pulmonary perfusion (PPI)/ventilation scan (PPV) and deep venous radionuclide venography (RNV), which were performed in all patients. There were 79 males and 61 females, with an average age of 39 +/- 18 years. Twenty-six cases underwent pulmonary angiography; 11 underwent X Ray venography of lower extremities (XRV); 18 underwent impedence plethymography (IPG); and 36 underwent lower limb echocardiography (UCG).
Results: Of the 140 patients with PTE, 120 (85.7%) had lower limb venous pathological changes. Among them, 94 patients had risk factors for DVT. The agreement rates of RNV with XRV, UCG and IPG were 90.9%, 72.2% and 80.0%, respectively.
Conclusions: The results indicated that DVT was highly prevalent in patients with acute pulmonary embolism. Thrombosis was a primary pathogenic factor for PTE, and thrombi were mostly from proximal veins. (99m)TC-MAA radionuclide imaging was a useful method for noninvasive detection of DVT and PTE.